Interested in Russian cuisine ? This book is the way.
Written: Dec 18 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Real-live recipes, broad range of dishes, witty historical insight, lots of useful tips
Cons: Index is not very well organized: tips are not listed in the index.
The Bottom Line: Great recipes, diversity, cultural and historical insight, may tips and suggestions, easy to use, great for people unfamiliar with the subject.
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| jukka51's Full Review: Anya Von Bremzen and John Welchman - Please to the... |
I have to make a note right away that I am from Ukraine, native Russian speaker, and I used to cook many things described in this book even before I got the book.
Secondly, I was always a believer, that real-life recipes come from real people who actually cooked them, not from the books. Until now...
There are 2 major problems with ethnic cookbooks:
1. usage of the original ingredients is not always possible for whatever reason - they are not produced in your country, they are hard to find, they are too expensive, etc... So we are trying to substitute the ingredients, and end up with a totally different dish.
2. sometimes a well-cooked dish doesn't work well simply because it is not served or eaten right. We don't know what goes well with this dish, what should be eaten before or after, etc...
Please To The Table eliminates both of the problems above:
1. The authors are telling you very clearly, which ingredient should be used instead of the original one, if the latter is impossible to find. They give you plenty of suggestions on where to find the original ingredients, or even how to make some of the ingredients yourself.
2. Anya Von Bremzen is a food historian, plus she is Russian. She gives you a very interesting insight on Russian food, history of some traditions, how to eat certain dishes and why. The authors also compiled lists of dishes that go well together, and some traditional menus, and this makes it easy for a person who is not familiar with Russian cuisine to decide how to combine various dishes in one dinner. There are plenty of cooking tips in the books, some quotes from Classic Russian literature, and a bunch of humorous articles on how to eat this or that. For example, there is a little article "A Shot Of Vodka Proper Russian Way". My family was dying laughing while reading this - it is all true, but the style it is written brings up even more than just tradition.
Other important pros:
1. real-live recipes taken from real people, including those who had lived in USA for a long time - so they know well how to substitute ingredients. Some of the recipe authors are professional restaurant chefs.
2. broad range of dishes - from quick salads and snacks to time-consuming casseroles and roasts. Important part is pantry - home made pickles, jelly, marinades, and other great stuff.
3. tips on how to make some of the important ingredients yourself, and how to store them for a longer time
4. recipes are not limited to just Russian. They cover the whole territory of former Soviet Union, reflect the diversity of "soviet" cooking, featuring plenty of the most popular ethnic dishes.
5. the book contains traditional holiday menus, pre-compiled for your use
6. plenty of recipes to use when have little or no time to cook.
These is lots more to say about this book.
If you are looking to explore some new cuisines and love to cook, even if you are from Russia yourself, this book is definitely for you.
Note: I bought this cookbook as a birthday gift for one of my friends, who is an American and loves to cook. Then I bought the one for myself, and then for my sister.
I consider this book a great source of modern Russian recipes, in not the ONLY source.
It is very inexpensive, too.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
jukka51
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Location: Atlanta, GA
Reviews written: 2
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